A Vegan Obsession

Artisan Raw Chocolate Giveaway from Fine & Raw

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vday-love-chunky-set

Chocolate Giveaway

Fine & Raw Valentines Chocolate Giveaway 8 pc box set. I visited the Fine & Raw factory and retail space in Brooklyn. I have been evangelistic about their chocolate ever since. My most recent acquisition was a bar of their Scotch Chunky. Happy Face!

fine and raw chocolate

For our Valentines Giveaway we have box of the 8 pc classic to giveaway to one lucky chocolate lover.

truffles---mixed

 

‘FINE & RAW was started in a notorious Williamsburg, Brooklyn artist loft by Daniel Sklaar. A nonsensical obsession with chocolate inspired Daniel to begin making small chocolate batches. He shared them with friends then started delivering them on his bicycle to small local purveyors. The stock was good - the purveyors wanted more.’

What is raw chocolate? Unlike other chocolate it is not roasted and never reaches above 45 degrees. Some say that nutritionally, cacao is a superfood with more than 300 nutritients including antioxidants, flavonoids, fibre, iron, zinc, copper, calcium and magnesium. It also contains tryptophan which helps our bodies to manufacture serotonins (known as the happiness neurotransmitter). Also, the chemicals anandamine and phenylethylamine which simulate the feeling of falling in love. Aw.

And just look at this for a list of quality ingredients..

raw cacao, virgin coconut oil, blue agave, cacao butter, himalayan sea salt. This is chocolate it is easy to feel good about!

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No Compromise Healthy Eating In New York. Quintessence

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The temperatures may have been dropping in New York, and the thought of a cold salad may not have been on the top of my list, but if my little ears get wind of a raw food restaurant I am on Google and mapping my way to it quicker than you can say ‘activated nuts’!

Sometimes, a raw restaurant (nothing cooked above 118f, to retain the essential nutrients) may be living off the aged reputation of the ubiquitous dishes of raw pizza, raw lasagne and chocolate, avocado mousse.  For the uninitiated these will be eye openers, not to mention shifting your perceptions of uncooked food.  But, I’ll be honest, when I have a short amount of time to run around a city discovering exciting, innovative food, if this is all they offer, I’m skipping it.  An online glance over the Quintessence menu  intrigued me. The whole menu is 100% organic, gluten free and vegan).

I called up a foodie playmate and we headed over to the East Village. I’d already made up my mind from my menu musings earlier so my friend and I decided to order two of the most interesting looking dishes and share them.  I opted for the Indian dish.
  

Indian Platter 

The India Platter was a Mali Kofta, chickpea and vegetable balls covered in a curried almond sauce, served with mango chutney and cucumber raita.  It was creamy pillows of curried heaven. 

Our second choice had to be the
Mexican Platter

Flax and corn enchiladas with ‘refried’ beans, ‘cheese’, dowsed in mole and guajillo chilli sauce.  My dining partner had long been a fan of the Mexican Platter but his allegiance shifted that night to the Indian plate.  Honestly, I’d happily choose either of them.

The food was exceptionally flavoursome and inventive with wonderfully balanced textures.  Filling too.  No room for dessert!!  The service was non-invasive but present.  It was early, 6pm so it was fairly quiet.  It is a small place so it probably fills up quickly.  It had a nice ambience but I didn’t see how it had the ‘spa like experience’ their website spoke of?  In my opinion, it is just a nice, relaxed atmosphere to enjoy good food with good friends.

There are a few cooked items on the menu, sadly it was a one time visit on this trip so I cannot vouch for those. Their menu is extensive with original, amazing sounding appetisers and entrees (they have a dish called fofu?  I’m waiting on a reply from them to enlighten me to what that may be). They serve shakes, raw pies and puddings, too. Their website is a bit odd.  On face value it looks like they only deliver, this is obviously not the case.

quin·tes·sence  (kwn-tsns)

n.
1. The pure, highly concentrated essence of a thing.
2. The purest or most typical instance: the quintessence of evil.
3. In ancient and medieval philosophy, the fifth and highest essence after the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water, thought to be the substance of the heavenly bodies and latent in all things.

Quintessence
East Village

263 E 10th Street 

(btw. Ave A & 1st Ave)

NYC

(646) 654-1823

New York never fails to be so vibrant and utterly entertaining.  I captured a great moment on the subway  This guy was the icing on the cake to a great night.  He just walked up and started showing some moves. Only in New York?!

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